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THE FUEL PUMP. One type is the Inline-style. Plunger pumps actuated by the pump camshaft
send fuel pulses through six high-pressure fuel lines to the injectors.
The pressure opens the injector valve allowing fuel to pass into the
combustion chamber. Metering of the fuel (for example, at idle 65:1 or full load 25:1)
is controlled by a fuel rack and gears which rotate a metering helix
to allow fuel into the six plunger pumps. Another type is the rotary-style fuel pump. Think of this pump like
a mini automobile spark distributor. A rotary "head" sends
fuel pulses through the high-pressure fuel lines to the injectors. Just
like the in-line fuel pump system, the pressure opens the injector valve
and fuel is injected. FUEL BTUs. "The btu value of diesel is greater." Quite true, the btu, or British thermal unit, for diesel fuel is 130,000
btu's per gallon and a weight of 7.4 lb/gal. The value for gasoline
is 117,000 btu's and a weight of 6.0 lb/gal. If we go back to our basic
physics rules for energy, you'll note the fuel in the tank has potential
for work if it is injected into the cylinders and, combined with the
compressed heated air, ignited. The piston is forced downward, the crankshaft
rotates, the alternator turns. The diesel design (the "heat engine"), compression ratios
(the "heat engine"), the fuel injection system (allowing 85:1
down to 25:1 air-to-fuel versus gasoline at 14:1) and fuel btu's (diesel
fuel has more power), all these diesel attributes add up to more KW
per gallon of fuel! HEAVY-DUTY STRUCTURE. Final notes: We've covered the principle of diesel operation and the
high compression ratios needed to make the heat for diesel engine combustion.
The high compression ratio causes the engineers to design, test and
manufacture the block, heads, head bolts, crankshaft, connecting rods,
rod bolts, pistons, piston pins, etc., with greater structural capacity.
In other words, diesels are inherently heavy in relation to their gasoline
brothers. WHY NOT USE GASOLINE? Your generator could be fueled by gasoline, propane, or natural gas,
but it really ought to be fueled by diesel. Here's why: A diesel generator produces twice the power per gallon of fuel that
a gas generator does. A gallon of ("off road") diesel is cheaper than a gallon
of gas. Diesel fuel does not blow up. In fact, it is hard to get it to burn
at all. A diesel motor will last four times longer than a gasoline engine.
Untreated diesel fuel lasts longer in storage than untreated gasoline.
Treated diesel fuel lasts longer in storage than treated gasoline.
Diesel fuel treatment costs less than gasoline treatment. Spoiled diesel can be reconditioned to refinery specifications. Spoiled
gasoline can not. Unmodified diesel motors can be run on vegetable oil. OTHER INFO Natural gas should not normally be relied upon if you live in an earthquake
prone area. The whole point of a generator is to be independent of,
and replace something a utility failed to provide. Why would you want
to hook up your generator to yet another utility? The engine rpm's, (and therefore the frequency output of the generator) will not be very stable if you're running a lower torque engine with a lower energy fuel like propane/NG and you're running that combination at full capacity. Frequency stablility isn't that important to a power saw but it is important to your electronics. |
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